Coastal Commute

Art Conforti, founder of Bloomerang, rides the waves to work.

THE WATER ALWAYS OFFERED SARASOTA ENTREPRENEURArt Conforti an escape from his worklife, but when he finally ditched rush hour traffic and started boating to work, it changed his mindset forever. “It’s like you start your day, every day, on vacation,” he says. Conforti used to run Beneva Flowers, and he couldn’t leave a car in the garage when he still ran the downtown floral shop. Nor could he really do that when he ran Weenies on Wheels in the city core. But now he’s moved into office space on Curtis Street with his new company, digital marketing strategies firm Bloomerang Solutions, and that means he can lose the wheels and take his 28 Regal to the office. That actually ended up cutting a 35-minute commute on the Tamiami Trail into a 20-minute ride up the Intracoastal Waterway, where he may see one or two other boats in the water each morning. “Now my workday becomes just a part of the day,” he says. “It’s the change in frame of mind that’s so important.” And no one blinks an eye when they see Art with his dog serving as co-pilot.